Emil Kuyumcuyan | Percussion

Percussionist Emil Kuyumcuyan was born in Istanbul in 1993. He has Armenian, Greek, African, and Croatian roots. His musical endeavours are wide reaching and span the musical masterpieces of the percussion world, contemporary classical chamber music, original compositions, and musical theater.

Following his musical education under Turgut Mehmet Sökmen at the “Mimar Sinan Istanbul State Conservatory”, Emil Kuyumcuyan moved to Germany to study with Marta Klimasara, Klaus Dreher, Juergen Spitschka and Harald Loehle at the “Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart” and subsequently with Jean Geoffroy at “CNSMD Lyon” in France.

As an acclaimed percussionist, Emil won the first prize at the “Tromp International Percussion Competition“, one of the most renowned percussion competitions. His other accolades include a first prize win as a soloist at the “Stockholm International Music Competition” and also for his trio “Talking Drums” at the “International Percussion Competition Luxembourg”. He has also received grants and scholarships from organizations like Yamaha Foundation Europe, Deutschlandstipendium, Kunststiftung Baden-Wuerttemberg, Nguyen Thien Dao Scholarship, Adami, and the Alfred-Toepfer-Foundation. In 2016 he was awarded the DAAD Prize (German Academic Exchange Service).

As an active composer, he has received commissions from the IPEA Competition Shanghai and the Philharmonie Cologne (KoelnMusik). His music is published by Norwegian Edition: Norsk Musikforlag.

He has taken the stage at the Muziekgebouw Amsterdam and Eindhoven, Centre Pompidou Paris, Saint-Petersburg Philharmonia, and has recorded for Bayerische Rundfunks and SWR. Emil has performed at festivals such as the Festival Musica Strasbourg, the Venice Biennale, the Donaueschingen Festival, and the Musical Olympus Festival and has performed alongside Asko Schoenberg Ensemble, Slagwerk Den Haag, and the Staatsorchester Stuttgart to name a few. These stages have brought him to Austria, Brazil, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, France, Italy, Israel, Luxembourg, Myanmar, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Slovenia, Sweden and Switzerland.

The percussionist has been performing with the German puppeteer, Anne-Kathrin Klatt since 2016 and as a co-soloist in “Marching & Breakin”, a show combining percussion, breakdance, marching band, and street culture, created by Dutch percussionist Dominique Vleeshouwers. 2019 saw the debut of his first audiovisual experience titled ” I S T A N B U L | the roots”, a musical performance inspired by the city itself and since 2020, Emil takes the stage as a member of “Percussions de Strasbourg”.

Emil Kuyumcuyan gives masterclasses internationally and has shared his artistic expertise with institutes such as “Emesp São Paulo”, “Tchaikovsky Conservatory Moscow”, “Gnessin Institute Moscow”, and his alma mater in Stuttgart. Most recently, he started teaching at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) as visiting tutor in snare drum.